Seven Months Home with Heidi

This month our activities and appointment schedule got slashed to next to nothing due to the Coronavirus. In some ways this was a nice break for all of us. After just one week of missed therapies Heidi moved to tell-therapy for speech and OT. As you can imagine, it’s less effective for a two-year-old who functions at about 12-18 months to look at a computer screen or phone for an hour twice a week. 

However, despite those challenges her therapists have given me several more ideas to try to teach her here at home. And it’s been pretty good! 

Heidi used her hand to turn the light switch off. She tried to open the back door by prying her fingers in the crack and pulling. She was getting into the school trash and pulling papers out and throwing them. We feel her curiousness is increasing her cognition. She’s beginning to truly explore the world around her and thereby meet new milestones. 

(So mad she can’t get the door open) 

One thing we wanted to see last month was her begin to throw a ball. Heidi surprised us all by choosing a heavier object (plastic rain stick) to throw. She thought it was hilarious. 

We wanted her to use her front teeth to take actual bites of food and we met success by giving her a hershey chocolate bar. I would hold the square and she would bite down. I guess she just needed proper motivation and this girl loves sweets! Later in the month she bit and chewed a hard cracker and a goldfish. She also had a piece of toast for breakfast. Unfortunately all these things must happen when Heidi wants them to. If she’s not in the mood she will absolutely refuse to bite or chew anything. 

She is started to respond to some commands. Anne said, “Heidi, give me a hug,” and Heidi ran to her and hugged Anne’s leg. Anne then said, “I’ll pick you up now,” and Heidi raised her arms to be lifted. When I take her to change her diaper I say, “Give me a diaper,” and she picks one up and throws it. Still working on the hand off. 

(I find lots of Heidi+Anne selfies on my phone)

Heidi loves pictures of babies. I pointed to a picture of the baby on her wipes container and said, “baby”. Heidi looked where I pointed (she’s getting good at this!) and said “ba-ba”. 

Heidi was upset about something and hit herself on the head. I saw her and just said, “Heidi.”  She instantly stopped hitting herself and ran into my arms for comfort. This really is a huge thing for our family. The fact that Heidi trusts us enough to provide real comfort to her is truly wonderful. 

(Sometimes Heidi wants Abbey instead of mama. I’m not mad about it.) 

Heidi is saying “dada” much more consistently and with real understanding since Trent started working from home. Not only will she say it on command, but she heard Trent talking in the other room and she said “dada”. While we would love to have her repeating more words, she does a lot of babbling and chattering. I think she will eventually have quite a bit to say to the world. 

(Current co-workers) 

We would like to see Heidi start to pick up her food and feed herself. I feel that she could do it if she wants but she can be a little stubborn. It does seem to stress her out when I push her too hard to try to feed herself. However, just today we have had success with semi hand-over-hand feeding. She really hates for me to manipulate her hands to do what we want them to do. But today I provided just the smallest amount of guidance for her to pick up her spoon and put it in her mouth. We had a lot of cheering when she did this. The other problem is that it is so slow and time consuming for her to feed herself. However, that shouldn’t always be the case. 

Another thing we started this past week is sensory brushing. We brush her back, arms and legs for about one minute every two hours. We are supposed to do this for two weeks. The goal is that this will reset her central nervous system and help her make strides in her sensory processing (especially her hands). Here is an article if you’re interested in learning more. 

Sensory Processing article

(More Heidi+Anne selfies)

Heidi is sleeping much better than last month. She is still often awake once in the night but not every night. We added a sound machine and a night light. We removed the crib completely from her room so she only has the toddler bed. She is now getting out of bed sometimes to play with a toy or throw all her diapers on the floor. But those are all appropriate actions for her to reach the next developmental stage. 

(Heidi grabbing a diaper for me)

Sometimes I do get discouraged at the seeming slowness of our progress. Thankfully I have friends and family who remind me of just how far we’ve come. 

I can’t get enough of her in this little bonnet and dress. She was so sweet this morning and loved the bonnet. Happy seven months home, happy Heidi! We love you!